


Sundown

by Royce_Clayton



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Anxious Reader, Biting, Deadlock Gang, Dirty Talk, F/M, Good Commander Gabe, Good Guy Genji, I'm Bad At Summaries, It's McCree after all, Kissing, Like, Love Confessions, OH the pet names, POV Second Person, Pet Names, Romance, Rough Sex, Sex, She's sure of herself, Smut, Tropes, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Yelling, and then she really isn't, cactus, cheesy at times, self conscious reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 01:58:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15741816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Royce_Clayton/pseuds/Royce_Clayton
Summary: You, agent Sundown of Overwatch, are put on a mission with Gabriel Reyes and none other than your fellow ex-deadlock best friend turned Blackwatch agent Jesse McCree who you haven't seen in over a year. Jesse gets himself hurt, and you fall back on old habits, which get you in hot water with the jefe. When Reyes reveals that everything you think you know about the deal you made with him is wrong it leads you to a certain cowboy's door with every intent on kicking his ass. A few confessions later and that's the furthest thing from your mind...





	Sundown

**Author's Note:**

> Named after the Gordon Lightfoot song. If I ever write more maybe it'll include the reason you got the name.  
> My first time writing reader insert, and it's been a hot minute since I've written anything M/F so lend me your strength my friends, and enjoy~!

“Ya got the dumbest walk, Deadeye.”

“I don’ know whatcha mean, Sundown, s’just how a man’s gotta walk when he’s as fine a spec’men as I am.”

You rolled your eyes behind the scope, sweeping the area as the cowboy moseyed through the shadows. You were being ultra casual but damn it felt good to speak to him again. Good enough you were able to tamp down how badly you wanted to scream at him for his absence.

“An’ just  _ what _ are ya a specimen  _ of _ , ‘xactly?” You focused in on a flicker at the corner of your vision, knowing immediately that it wasn’t one of yours. “Got two comin’ up from your left side.”

As you watched the two Talon agents raised their rifles, and then dropped, leaving a young cyborg standing behind with a fist full of shuriken. Genji was gone in the next instant.

“Neutralized.”

“With extreme prej’dice,” you drawled in amusement.

“If’n yer so curious, Sundown--”

“I’d break you in half and throw you into the sun, McCree, ya really want that?” This was rote, you’d both had this teasing conversation a million times before. McCree naturally flirtatious and charming, and you unable to resist banter. It was easy to ignore the hollow sound of feigned mirth coming from both of you.

“An’ what if I do?”

“Will you two shut the fuck up, I have no problems shooting either of you.” Reyes growled through the comms line. “Or both.”

“Sorry Jefe,” you and Jesse murmured together.

It was the first time the two of you had been allowed on a mission together since leaving Deadlock. While there was time, after your capture, for training and behaviour modification, the truth was that you’d placed in Overwatch, the Strike Commander eager to utilize your sniping acumen for recon and safe proceeding. Jesse, meanwhile, was immediately carted away to Blackwatch.  It had been radio silence from him ever since. Reyes had liked what he’d seen in the rabid dog Deadeye. He’d been the one to take the both of you down, and in, and while he’d cut you two the same deal, you were easier to gentle into public consumption.

Which was fucking ridiculous, because Jesse Deadeye McCree was a fucking charming ass cowboy.

Who didn’t love cowboys?

Because of your shared connection with the dispersed (but, importantly, not  _ disbanded _ ) gang, the Strike Commander was loathe to put you two on the same op together. It was rare that Overwatch and Blackwatch did anything together anyway, but even outside of that your contact was limited.

It didn’t change the fact that you were a little too rough around the edges for the average Overwatch grunts. Mostly it just left you lonely. You weren’t unhappy-Deadlock was a lot of things for you but safe, home, or happy were certainly not included and therefore Overwatch was vastly superior. But you found yourself missing the loudmouthed idiot you’d run with back home.

“Shit!” McCree swore over the headset as a shrill alarm pierced the quiet compound.

“Nice goin’ Deadeye,” you snarked, tightening your hold on your rifle.

You felt your consciousness reach out invisible hands that wrapped around the weapon, fusing you together, and powering up the gun. It was no Deadeye, but it was what had kept you alive for as long as you could remember. The weapon didn’t matter, you enhanced anything that slid into your hands if you used “Mi Alma.” The first time you’d used it, back to the wall, scared out of your mind, it was with a water pistol. You’d killed a man that day.

“Not now, Sundown!”

You began picking off soldiers as they poured out like angered wasps from a shook up nest, your gaze fading away until all you saw were colors, friend and foe in blues and reds respectively, you followed along mowing down anything red that you could see.

“Pull back, full retreat, to the extraction point,” Reyes called.

“It’s High Noon” a rough southern drawl purred.

“Deadeye don’t!” You barked.

You lifted your head, your eyes still not quite seeing the world in the right sense, in time to see McCree glowing, and then the shots rang out.

Ten, eleven, twelve in total, twice as much as a six shooter should have been capable of, and yet there they were, bodies all neatly, cleanly dead. You swore, already rushing from your nest, across the rooftops, heading for the shaking cowboy and shooting anything that got too close as he stumbled back clutching his face and trying to fire with his other hand.

You slid down a convenient ramp and ran to him, grabbing him by the shoulder and jerking him back as you yanked the smoking revolver from his hand and forced your rifle in his arms instead. You grit your teeth at the feeling of your skin tearing away with it, you hadn’t actually disengaged your ability. You knew better, normally, and there was no doubt you were going to pay for that later with a wicked migraine.

“Don’t get us fucking dead,” you snapped as you pulled out a pistol from your side holster and immediately cast “Mi Alma” over it as well.  You started making your way back towards the exit route, ignoring the way your vision swam. There weren’t many left, between the four of you being fairly DPS based. It was easy enough to make your break out into the woods behind the base, part of the innocuous cover that helped keep Talon off the map. It was only a matter of time before the stupid thing exploded, though. They always exploded. Fuck being inconspicuous then.

You leaned McCree against a tree and rummaged around in your ever present pack, pulling out a squishy white bag that you quickly cracked in your fists, giving it a shake and pressing it to the gunslinger’s bleeding eye. He hissed, and then sank back into the bark, as the icepack touched the tender, swollen skin.

“Fucking ridiculous, always biting off more than ya could chew even now,” you growled, taking your rifle from him and deconstructing it.

Your comms buzzed in your ears.

“Sundown, McCree, report!”

“Making our way back, sir, had a little first aid to take care of.” You eyed McCree cautiously.

“Wheels up in ten, get your asses here now!”

“Copy that.”

“Your dumbass cowboyin’ get you hurt, McCree?” Reyes asked, the agitation more than just a tits up mission could explain away.

“M’fine boss,” the gunslinger muttered after a second.

“It was me,” you said quickly. “I took a hit.”

Jesse stared wide eyed at you as Reyes muttered something angrily in spanish too quick for even your southwestern brain.

“That,” he said finally, “that  _ lie _ right there, is the reason you two are kept apart, Agent. In case you were wondering.”

You felt your face screw up, your lips pulling back in a snarl at someone who wasn’t even there. You went to argue, but McCree’s hand covered your ear, preventing you from hitting the comms button. When you turned your rage on him, he was just looking at you with a strange gleam in his good eye.

“Nothin’ a biotic field an’...twenty laps ‘round the watchpoint,” Jesse winced at his own words, “won’ fix Jefe. We’re headin’ back now.”

The comms went quiet, and for a moment so were the both of you. Then it all came rushing back.

“What the fuck, Deadeye?!”

“You think I wanna do that much runnin’ with my head poundin’ like a fuckin’ thunderdrum, Sundown?” He snapped back, turning to start picking his way back towards where the jet would be waiting for you both. “Hell of a lot better than whatever the fuck was about to come outta yer mouth was gonna buy us.”

“I could take it,” You growled immediately.

“I don’ doubt that, but trust me Reyes’ a whole ‘nother animal than Morrison. An’ anythin’ between us they catch, they’re gonna use.”

“There  _ ain’t _ nothin’ ‘tween us” you muttered bitterly, even as you realized that, if anyone would know, it would be Jesse. The cowboy’d settled down a lot in the time you’d been apart, and he’d been under Reyes’ care. And it occured to you, not that it ever really left your mind, that it was by the grace of Blackwatch that you and Jesse weren’t dead in the ground or rottin’ in a cell like the others from your family.

“Why’d ya go an’ lie, anyway?”

“Ya know why.” Your eyes shifted down to the forest floor as you walked.

Deadeye wasn’t a nice friendly curse, you’d seen it lay Jesse up for days if he pushed it too far, weeks on one memorable occasion. That kinda weakness was easy to exploit, Deadlock woulda eaten him down to the marrow if they’d known. So, you’d made it your mission to keep them from knowing. Whether it was hiding him away in rooms and letting the guys think all kinds of awful things about you-things they would then proposition you for later-or straight up pretending to be dead only to make a miraculous and heroic return, you never let anyone see Jesse like that.

And now, your old habits were making calls for you.

“We ain’t there no more, boss knows it ain’t a lightswitch.”

“I know.” You sighed, head beginning to swim again. “It slipped.”

You two made it to the clearing where the carrier was waiting, Reyes glaring from the end of the ramp. You took a step forward before Jesse grabbed your wrist and moved to face you, standing between you and Reyes’ view.

“Thank you.”

You looked up into his face, blinking in confusion.

“Yer gonna thank me for gettin’ ya in trouble with the boss man?” You narrowed your eyes. “Didja finally fry somethin’ in that thick head’a yers?”

He gave a snort. “That ain’t what ya did, an ya know it.” He met your eyes. “I...missed ya, Sundown.”

“McCree! Sundown!” Reyes growled in your ears.

“I missed you too, Deadeye.” You answered softly, feeling vulnerable in a way that standing with your back to an enemy base didn’t make you. Too hurt to ask the real question:  _ then why did you leave _ ?

Jesse looked like he had more to say, but another call over comms made him shut his mouth with a snap and turn to head towards the ship. You stood for a moment, wondering what was left unsaid, before following.

 

*~*~*

 

Surprisingly Reyes didn’t jump down your throat the minute you got onboard. Hell, he even checked in on you. It was more than you expected from the hardass commander who’d slammed your head into a metal interrogation room table upon your second ever meeting.

He’d been shooting at you the first time.

It was a long flight back, though, and that meant it was inevitable.

You were tucked up on one of the bench seats, trying to get some kind of sleep. Engines were lullabies, always had been, cars, trains, planes, it didn’t matter much what. But their siren song didn’t seem as strong this flight. Probably because the part of your brain  _ not  _ trying to stage a full blown revolt with your stomach as cavalry was full of cowboy. The cowboy currently passed out on his back in the triage bed in the warmth of a biotic field, to be specific.

Reyes moved through the bay, speaking to each of the team in turn. It was something you didn’t see in Overwatch too much. The teams were bigger, and most grouped up to chatter or peeled away to sleep off the ride. The COs were busy writing reports.

Then again, you were new-well, a year plus was hardly  _ new _ but you were rationalizing damn it- and unassigned to any one specific team, so maybe that colored your perceptions a bit. It still seemed like a unique gesture for a commander though.

Finally the super soldier stood in front of you, and you refused your first instinct of burrowing down into your jacket and pretending to sleep.

“Agent.”

“Commander.”

“You wanna tell me what possessed you to lie about another agent’s status on the field today?” He didn’t sound mad, not yet at least. Disapproving, for sure, but not ‘ready to snap your neck like a twig’ angry. That was nice.

You took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I...really don’t, sir.”

Reyes crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow. “Too damn bad, Sundown. Talk.”

“Look, I don’t know what ya want me to say here.”

“Start with ‘I lied to my commanding officer who could easily get my sorry gangbanger ass sent back to prison because’ and see what pops out next.”

You felt your face color. “Yer gonna have to get the Strike Commander to sign off on my removal.”

Reyes shook his head. “I can oust you whenever I want.”

“I’m Overwatch, ya’ll were just borrowin’ me tonight.”

He barked out a laugh that set your whole person on edge. The good humor seemed to fade, and you could see the man taking a moment to contemplate...something, before answering. “Oh chica…you really think I’d go to the mats to keep you just to let Jackie take all the credit? Nah, you’re Blackwatch top to bottom.”

You stared at him as the bottom dropped out from under you, sending your mind into freefall. “What?”

“You may wear the blues but your fate sits in two people’s hands, and he may hate it but the ultimate decision is mine. Your ass lives on the time I borrowed it, Sundown.”

You had to pinch yourself to bring your mind into focus, trying to parse the commander’s ( _ your _ commander’s?) Words.

“I’m…”

“So, want to try telling me again?”

You stared up at him. You had spent the last year and some change, more or less, alone. There were some people who knew your name, people you’d wave to or say a few words with, but for the most part you’d been detached. Floating, a small boat left to drift in the vast ocean after being torn from your mooring ropes by shotguns and a once in a lifetime deal. You’d told yourself it was fine, that there was just something too rough about you for the clean cut Overwatch crew. But that you lacked the viciousness for Blackwatch, or so you’d been told...because you’d tried.

After a year spent alone, slowly being reprogrammed from a mongrel into something brighter and shinier, you’d asked to be transferred. Because you knew that if nothing else, if you truly didn’t find companionship within the more criminal set there, that there was always one person who wouldn’t turn you away. 

And then they’d told you no. Your CO had given you a line, and when you went to the next highest link in the chain it only got you more heat, until you found yourself sitting in Morrison’s office being told that your skills were necessary to Overwatch and that was the end of it. That had mollified you, even as it broke your heart. 

“Sundown?”

Reyes’ tone told you you’d been in your own head too long. It wasn’t that of a hardened CO, it reminded you of the way you’d called out to Jesse the first time you’d found him after a Deadeye shootout, bleeding, flailing, and half feral out of his mind.

And then you felt the first drop of thick fluid from your nose. You lifted your fingers and pulled away blood. Your eyes flicked back up to Reyes, the quickness disorienting, and saw the firm line of his mouth part on words that never quite reached your ears.

You felt yourself sway, then pitch forward. Thankfully the darkness took you before you got to experience the floor up close and personal.

 

*~*~*

 

You woke up to warm tingling all through your veins, staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. Not that this was an altogether new experience. Deadlock didn’t have healers like Overwatch, but there was no shortage of conquered hotel rooms within the gang’s sphere of influence to curl up and lick your wounds in.

What did you last remember…

You sat bolt upright, the monitors shrieking around you as your heart tried to beat out of your chest. The mission, Jesse, Blackwatch....

“Fuck!” You raked a hand through your hair and looked around wildly.

Med bay, you had to be in med bay, back at base. That explained the medical equipment. You felt your face but found no evidence of the blood you’d last felt there, dried or otherwise. The door opened and a healer came in, alerted by the rioting machinery around you. You felt your heart rate slow at the sight of the Overwatch patch on the sleeve of their scrubs. Definitely back on base.

You’d last been conscious on a plane with a cowboy, a cyborg ninja, and Gabriel “I-Kill-Everything” Reyes, and still there was a flicker of doubt. Years of living the gang life had taught you well enough, Overwatch training scenarios and horror stories just reinforced it, never trust your eyes alone. 

The medic was checking the monitors before pulling out the tool that let him check your vitals, but he didn’t get too close. Maybe it was the way you watched his every movement with wide eyes.

“Do you know where you are?”

You just narrowed your eyes at him, hands gripping the sheets in your lap.

“Athena,” the man said softly. “Returning procedure.”

You stiffened. The synthetic voice gently ran through a greeting for you, including the code you and she had randomly generated on your induction. It was a sign of safety, something unknown to anyone else. Not even Sombra could get that information.

You were home.

Letting out a long sigh you relaxed back into the hospital bed, the monitors returning to their natural quiet chirping.

“Welcome back, Agent Sundown.” He smiled.  “Your numbers look better already, I’m Trin, your medic for the evening.”

“Howdy,” you murmured.

“So, is this a New Mexican thing?” A familiar voice made you turn to see Reyes standing in the doorway. “You all try to get yourselves killed boosting during milk runs?”

You heard the monitors pick back up again, and Trin turned to raise an eyebrow at the door then thought better of it when he saw who it actually was.

“She’s fine,” the commander assured.

Trin puffed up a bit, ready to fight, but the monitors tapered off.

“S’okay,” you told him. “Can we...have a moment?”

The medic looked between the two of you, eyes suspicious, but started to leave. He stopped in front of Reyes and looked the taller man over before meeting his eyes. “I’ll be remotely monitoring her vitals. If I see something I don’t like, I’ll get Dr Ziegler.”

“Understood.” Reyes chuckled.

Once the healer had left, the commander stepped in and closed the door behind him.

“How’s the head?”

“Still attached,” you replied dryly, unable to completely relax in the man’s presence-but also feeling exhausted by that same thing. “And no, the irony isn’t lost on me, sir.”

The silence stretched between you two, and you tried to look anywhere else. You heard him step out, but before you could even blink he had returned. Your eyes landed on his hands, where a small potted plant was held out to you. It was at first sight a huge flower with bright pink petals that faded into a pale yellow ring around the inside where bright yellow and orange pollen tendrils stuck out. But beneath the flower, you knew, was the real plant. A rainbow cactus, so prickly and spined in multi colored rings that the green body was completely obscured, making it look fuzzy and welcoming, even though it wasn’t.

You stared hard at it, feeling your heart clench. You knew that cactus well.

They were native to the southwest. Jesse had pulled you out of a bed of those when you’d first met him. 

You tried to speak, your jaw moved with rusty speed, but you couldn’t make anything come out.

The commander walked around your bed and set it on a side table before plunking down into the chair next to you.

“I’d tell you that’s not from me, but given the look on your face, chica, you already know that.”

You gave a stiff nod and looked away from the plant to blink up at him. “I need...I need to know what’s goin’ on sir. When I joined up I was expectin’ change but not...not this.”

Barely able to spit words out, there was no way you could even address the gift sitting beside you that may as well have been thrown in your face for all it hurt you inside.

Luckily you weren’t the crying type, usually. No, you got hurt, and then you got mad.

“What triggered the blackout?” Reyes asked instead, looking back at you.

“Sir-”

“Remember, Agent, that I’m in no way obligated to explain myself to you at all. Answer mine and I might answer yours.”

You growled softly, but relented. “When I grabbed McCree I handed ‘im my rifle without fully disengagin’ and immediately pulled my sidearm.”

He tilted his head. “Overwatch put you through the standard stress tests, and no reaction like this shows in your record.” He raised an eyebrow. “What’s the cooldown time?”

“You said you’d answer one of mine.”

To your surprise, he chuckled. “Ask.”

You  _ had  _ asked, but his face said you needed to ask  _ differently _ . Clearly he wasn’t just going to explain himself, and you didn’t know how many questions he’d answer so you didn’t want to start small.

You licked your lips, feeling your mind race. “Did I do somethin’ wrong?”

And  _ fuck _ that wasn’t what you’d meant to ask at all. It sounded pathetic, even to your ears, your voice wavering ever so slightly to show Reyes exactly how bad off your head was in all this. But you couldn’t quite help it either. Reyes was the one that said you’d had a future. It was a press ganged future, but that was more than Deadlock had ever offered outside of the tight hold of a rugged hand your size as it pulled you along through the desert heat to the next bullshit thing you’d get up to.

The man’s resting frown deepened, and he leaned forward a bit to rest his elbows on his thighs.

“No, niña, nothing like what you think, this wasn’t a punishment. We...hoped you’d be fine in Overwatch.” But his eyes softened, slightly.

There was a road down below to a very hot place paved with intentions just like that.

You looked away, down to your lap where you had a white knuckle grip on the blanket.

“The cooldown, querida.”

You tilt your head at the name. “It’s...not like that, ‘xactly. If I disengage, it takes maybe a couple seconds. The rifle is large, and my side arm isn’t. The energy, power, whatever it is…s’like tryin’ to cram a size 10 foot into a size 2 shoe. You can do it, just gotta cut one down to fit the other, and find some place for all the extra bits to go. Bout the same level of comfort, takes its time ricocheting back up to my head. S’normally just a migraine or somethin’ but the feedback was pretty big and then  _ somebody _ ,” you glared at him. “ _ Somebody _ decided to turn my g’damn world on its ass.”

Reyes seemed unperturbed as your anger flared. “So why didn’t you disengage?”

“¿ _ Mi mente estaba un poco ocupada, okay?!”  _ You snapped. “I’ve seen him drop dead for a week after a shot like that, wasn’t gonna just leave him there.”

You realized that you’d given him a freebie and curled your lips inward to shut yourself up. When he didn’t push, you tried to take a steadying breath. 

“I wanna go to Blackwatch. I tried to before ‘n got shutdown. Morrison said it was ‘cause they needed me but...that ain't true is it?”

He shrugged a bit. “He  _ does _ need a good sniper, your skills are without a doubt helpful. Jackie wasn’t very pleased about my call on acquiring you two but you’ve shown excellent resiliency and work ethic despite your social peccadilloes. But, no one’s mission critical Sundown. As for joining...we don’t work pretty, or clean.”

“I’m- _ was _ Deadlock, sir. You think I care?”

He stood, and you felt yourself flounder-you hadn’t learned  _ anything _ .

“Do you think you can run ops with McCree?” You immediately opened your mouth to shout yes but he silenced you with a hard look. “Because that last mission tells me you’re still compromised. I won’t lose people because your first priority is distinctly vaquero shaped.”

“I... _ may _ be compromised,” you admitted. Because you didn’t want to lie, not to Reyes, not right now like this. This felt like a test. The way his sharp eyes eased a bit said you were right. “ _ But Jesse isn’t.” _

Your commander’s eyes slowly, deliberately, slid over you to the innocuous plant sitting on the table, and you refused to follow.

“Claramente.”

He started towards the door and you sat up straighter, going for broke.

“Why did you put me in Overwatch if you’re the one who wanted me?”

Reyes stopped at the door and looked back at you over his shoulder. He studied you for a moment, and then spoke. “Because he asked.”

Your brows furrowed in confusion. Reyes had just said that the Strike Commander  _ hadn’t  _ wanted you, didn’t trust you even. And that made sense, he only knew you as a gang member, he hadn’t even had boots on the ground during the raid. So how the hell could he have asked for you?

The commander watched you try to puzzle it out for a moment before opening the door. “Take good care of that plant, he’s had it since he joined up.”

And as he left, he smiled when the lightbulb clicked on over your head and then shattered.

 

*~*~*

 

The metal under your knuckles didn’t feel nearly satisfying enough-you wanted to be pounding his big fat head in, not his door. Or maybe throwing the cactus you held in your other hand at him. That would do nicely. The banging echoed a little in the hall of the blackwatch dorms so you knew he had to have heard you. But, just in case…

“Jesse James McCree you open this goddamn door right now or I’ll make you wished to god ya had!”

You heard the  _ whish _ of a door, but it wasn’t the one that mattered. Genji stuck his head out and looked over at you. You looked back, pointing at the door while giving the ninja a look that you hoped conveyed the sheer amount of “ _ this _ motherfucker amirite??” you felt.

His eyes crinkled a little at the corners and you knew, despite his faceplate obscuring it, that he was smiling. He stepped out into the hall, coming over to stand next to you, and reached out to flick deft fingers over the keypad.

“Thank ya kindly but…” you wanted to ask why Genji would bother helping you assault his...were they friends? Did Deadeye make friends? ‘Course he did, smarmy bastard.

“I am an agent of chaos.” You made a mental note that Genji liked to watch the world burn. “And he has been an absolute ass.”

You felt your lips tip up, but you knew your smile was more vicious than friendly. “I can send ‘im your way if anything is left when I’m done with ‘im.”

The device beeped, and the door slid open.

“What in tarnation-”

You reached out and grabbed the front of the cowboy’s flannel shirt and frog marched him back into his room. The door slid shut behind you and Jesse pulled away, face red and indignant.

“ _ YOU _ ,” you snarled, your voice dropping low as you jammed a finger into the solid wall of muscle that was his chest. Damn but training had been good to him. “You interferin’ sonuvabitch I can’t  _ believe  _ you! Ya  _ told Reyes to put me in Overwatch _ ?!”

He threw his hands up defensively. “I don’t-”

“Don’ ya fuckin’  _ dare _ lie to me, Jesse!” You glared at him, and he grimaced, but kept his mouth shut tight. You set the damning cactus on a low table next to you blindly, refusing to drop your gaze from him. “Reyes tells me I’m on Blackwatch payroll and I have no idea what’s goin’ on. Do you really hate me so damned much you had me sent away?”

“Ya deserve a better life!” The cowboy’s eyes flashed. “Ya don’t belong in gangs an’ that’s all Blackwatch is-another gang! More rules, sure, but it’s the same damn thing!”

“You didn’ answer the question, Deadeye!” You leaned in closer, narrowing your eyes to slits.

“Don’ push me on this just because I tried to do right by you for once in my life Sundown.” He snarled right back and closed the distance, face maybe an inch from yours as he showed fang. 

You stared at each other for a moment, neither willing to back away. You felt some of your anger cool, and hated that it did. Trying to do right by you?

Before you could ask, he left out a ragged breath and ran a hand through his wild hair, and you felt a knee jerk want to pet too. “No, I don’ hate you. I never could. Yer the only thing I got left.”

You felt your heart clench, and couldn’t help how small your voice became. “Then why did ya leave me alone?”

He bit his lower lip, struggling against the sight of you upset. He had so little power when it came to that-to you hurting at all. He reached out, slowly, giving you plenty of time to shut him down, before gently taking you by the upper arms.

“I didn’ want ‘em ta judge  _ you _ cuz’a  _ me _ .” He pulled you close and wrapped his arms around you. You allowed yourself a moment of greedy indulgence, sinking into the scent of desert and gunpowder that  _ was  _ Jesse McCree. “Wanted ya ta have a clean slate, find a new life. I got nothin’ else to me but a gun and a grin, but you...yer smart, you can be somethin’.”

“I got the same offer as you,” you argued, even as you felt yourself melting. “I’m with Overwatch for life.”

“Overwatch’s got retirement, darlin’.” He snorted. “I got five hundred credits in m’boot for burial money, that’s the Blackwatch retirement plan.”

“I didn’t ask for you to make decisions for me, Deadeye.” You eased back from the hug painfully, like when you didn’t disengage from your weapon. You didn’t need to get the wrong idea. “I’ve been miserable, and alone, because you got it into yer head that I was somethin’ I’m not. I’ll always be Deadlock inside, Jesse, just like you.”

The two of you stood in silence, taking in the gravity of your words. They could cage you, shine you up to a pretty gloss, sell you, tell you you’d become legitimate...but you’d always be those stupid kids running wild in the Gorge trying to eek out an existence in a world that shouldn’t have allowed it. You were branded inside, deep in your souls, and part of you  _ hated _ it because Deadlock was a snake pit. But, it was where your heart had rested.

In the boy who ran beside you.

In the man standing in front of you.

You’d loved him for so long now, you couldn’t even pinpoint when it began. It had just shifted, over time, from feelings of friendship to those...plus more. He would always be your best friend, even through stupid stunts like this. But you had never expected him to feel anything back.

“I asked Reyes to join Blackwatch,” you said, filling the silence before your heart tried speaking for you.

Jesse scowled. “And he said no, right?”

You shook your head. “He said I was compromised.”

Jesse’s expression turned guarded, trying to hide the micro expression of hope that swept through. It still came out in his voice. “...Yeah?”

You took a deep breath and raised your eyes to him. “I...agreed.” You gave him a weakened smile as you exposed yourself completely, his silence prompting you to go on. “But I told him you weren’t.”

The air turned chill around you for a second. “Oh sweetheart, you really shouldn’ turn lyin’ to Gabe into a habit.”

He pulled you into his arms again, wrapped up in his scent and warmth, and kissed you. It was careful, neither of you quite used to the mutual attraction yet, but it didn’t lack for passion. You put your years of silent pining into it, reaching up to loop your arms around his neck, and felt him return it tenfold as he squeezed you.

Only when you had to come up for air did you seperate, and neither of you went far, unable to stand the idea of more than an inch of distance after a year apart. You looked into his big brown eyes and couldn’t help but laugh.

“Now you could go scarrin’ a man fer life, laughin’ like that after he confesses an’ plants one on ya,” he drawled, a wry smirk quirking his lips. The lips that you’d just had against your own.

The thought made you a little giddy.

You reached up and rubbed his strong jaw affectionately, a touch he gladly leaned into, before shoving his face away playfully.

“Shut up an’ take me t’bed, Jesse.”

The sharp inhale that met your ears sent a shiver through you, and the low growl that followed had heat pooling down into your core. He scooped you up into his arms and walked quickly, with purpose, through a door that opened up into his bedroom. 

You didn’t really get a chance to take in the scenery before you were being tossed onto his bed. You bounced a little with a laugh, and sat up to start pulling your shirt off over your head, figuring that Jesse would be doing the same. As you flung your shirt to the side, however, you realized he had stalled at the foot of the bed, eyes glued to you, sweeping over every inch of skin you revealed with just that simple garment gone.

“Hun, you’ve seen me nekkid before ya know.”

He swallowed thickly, eyes meeting yours as he slowly unbuttoned his own shirt. “S’might different this time ‘round.”

You looked down at your body, thumbing the waistband of your jeans. You wished you’d worn something a little sexier. Hell, you wished you’d  _ owned _ something sexier  but up til now you didn’t exactly have anyone to wear something like that  _ for _ . And even if you did-well, you had that black lacey bra, did that count as sexy when all the rest were rather military issue? Sure why not-you’d not exactly been of the mind for seduction as you stormed over.

You’d wanted to punch Jesse’s face, not sit on it.

Flames engulfed your face as you realized exactly how dirty that last errant thought had been, and you shucked your pants off in a hurry to try and erase it from your memory. And Jesse, who was watching in appreciation and knew you like the back of his hand, smirked.

“An’ just what were you thinkin’ just now that’s got’chu doin’ a damn fine impression of a tamatah, huh?”

Oh hell no.

“You know what, think I left the oven on, gotta get that, byeeee” you lifted up and found yourself immediately pounced back down by your cowboy. The two of you wrestled for a minute, your blush growing as he poked and prodded, knowing all the spots that made you crack under pressure.

You were a beet red mess, hair wild, breath coming in pants between laughs as he grabbed your wrists and pinned them above your head and straddled your waist, though he was careful to rest his weight on his own knees. He leaned over you, beaming around his own dirty chuckles, catching your eyes.

“C’mon now, pumpkin, ya can’t keep secrets for beans from me and ya know it.”

You rolled your eyes and huffed, trying to tug your wrists back, but Jesse was at his fittest now that he was eating regularly and training hard. It felt...good, being held down like this. You felt little strings of pleasure plucked, and couldn’t help licking your lips a bit as your mouth ran dry.

“I was thinkin’ I wasn’t ‘xactly in the mood for romancin’ ya when I came over…” You spoke slowly, picking your words. “Didn’ dress the part.”

He tilted his head a bit, eyes shining. “Sweetpea, you ain’ gotta worry ‘bout none of that. Yer the prettiest damn thing I’ve ever seen, always have been an’ always will be.”

You bit your lip “An maybe somethin’ about comin’ to punch yer face...notsitonit”

Jesse blinked owlishly, then his eyes slid closed slowly as he let out a groan. “Babydoll the things you  _ say… _ ”

He sat back on his haunches and tore his shirt off, exposing a broad chest you certainly didn’t remember but wouldn’t mind getting to know, muscled with hair leading down in a delicious line to his belt buckle. You licked your lips again, wanting to see exactly where that treasure trail went, but he still had you pinned down with his hips. All you could do was wriggle beneath him, and Jesse rode the waves of your body like a champ. He leaned down and captured your mouth in another heated kiss, taking your wrists up in just one hand so his other was free to roam. 

It ran up and down your side slowly, gun-roughened fingers leaving flames of sensation in their wake that made you shiver, goosebumps rising up on your skin. You kissed him back with all the feeling you had, your eyes fluttering shut in bliss, and he bit your bottom lip in turn. You gasped, and he took that as all the invitation he needed to invade your mouth and plunder it for his own. His fingers slid up from your hip over the planes of your stomach, up to the bottom edge of your bra, and plucked playfully at the catch in the front, teasing, if the smile you tasted from him was any hint, before unhooking it with blind ease. You didn’t have too much time to think about how practiced that move seemed before you were arching under him and groaning, that big callused hand cupping your breast and massaging it, running the pad of his thumb over your nipple, sending slivers of pleasure through your system.

Jesse pulled back from the kiss, licking his lips, and you couldn’t help the soft whimpery sound that left you as he did. He held your gaze, that cocksure grin in place, as he lowered his head and kissed your breast chastely before running his tongue over the tightening bud under his thumb. You groaned and closed your eyes again, but found that  _ not _ watching was just as erotic, because now your mind was playing it all out for you. And it made you  _ burn. _

You let out a low whine, huffing softly. “Jesse...please, baby I know you wanna romance me an’ I appreciate it to pieces but can we--Ah!”

He bit you. The fucker actually bit you!

...Not  _ hard _ ...but  _ still _ !

He peered up at you with playful innocence so saccharine sweet it made your teeth ache. “Honey, you gon’ go an’ rush a man when he’s prostratin’ his love before ya like this?”

You rolled your eyes and tugged at your wrists. “All I’m sayin’, cowboy, is that in the next five minutes I’m gon’ be ridin’ somethin’” That got a lovely growl from him, and you smirked. “Now, it could be you, if you don’ mind skippin’ a few verses in this ballad...or it could be my friend back in the barracks?”

The shift was instantaneous, as you’d hoped, and Jesse’s sweet affection sharpened to a deadly blade. He lifted himself up, looming over you as he held your gaze, and you could see his eyes smoldering and practically green.

“ _ Who I gotta kill?” _

You felt heat rush through you, from your fingertips straight to your core and you couldn’t hold back the long shiver and whine that escaped you even if you’d wanted to.

“I ain’t nearly run you off fer good jus’ t’lose ya now, darlin’.” He kissed you, fiercely, before biting at your lip. “I’m yers ain’t I?”

“No thanks to you.”

He ignored the tease. “Well gorgeous, figure if’n I’m yers…” he nuzzled down to your throat, the weight of his body sliding off your hips to the bed beside, and you could feel his evil cheshire grin. “then yer  _ mine _ .”

Jesse bit down, hard, and you arched. His hand shot out, like a heat seeking missile, skimming just enough to make your stomach quiver before cupping your pussy through your panties. He ground the heel of his palm in, making you writhe as the sensation surged through you, making you keen. His fingers stroked the length of your slit, and the sheer amount of slick seeping through the thin fabric made him moan against your throat.

“All this fer lil ol’ me, sugar?”

Your mouth moved without your will for a moment, though your mind could supply it no words, held hostage at the end of his fingers as it was. Just as you managed to come up with something, his thumb slid under your panties and circled your clit, and everything shimmered out of existence before your eyes.

You must have hissed, or gasped, some kind of noise, because you could feel more than hear the husky rumble of his laugh. He teased two fingers, making your body stiffen, before pushing the soaked fabric aside and easing them in fully with a single wet glide, and the both of you groaned together.

“Fuck, pretty girl you got such a tight lil cunt…” he started rocking his fingers in and out of you. “Gonna hug my cock so nice…”

You squeezed your eyes shut and bit your bottom lip, rocking against Jesse’s fingers as much as you could. Already you felt the coil low in your belly tightening, the sheer fact that this was happening, you and Deadeye, and that  _ damned whiskey timbre _ of his…

He must have liked what he saw, his thumb sped up over your clit and his fingers gained haste as they sank in deeper, spreading a bit to rub all along your walls, sending fireworks up your spine.

“Jess-Jess-ahnn…” You tried to warn him, but he only lifted his head and kissed you into silence, his hand never slowing once.

You got to taste the smug grin he wore as he murmured against your lips. “Let me hear ya now, missy, nice an’ loud.”

You could only obey as your orgasm crashed through you like a tidal wave, drowning your head while your body rocked and rolled into it, his fingers continuing to push you straight through to the otherside, and all the while his name, and a slew of curses, were all that your tongue could manage. Somewhere in your hindbrain you remembered that air was a thing, and you could feel your chest tingling as it heaved with every breath. 

Twisting and turning now, you tried to move orgasm-leaden limbs, Jesse’s onslaught too much and not enough all at once but he refused to let up the hand moving inside you or the one holding you down.

“Stoooop,” you would have been embarassed to whine but there were few other ways it could have come out anyway.

“Now why would I go’n do that?” He lifted his head to peer down at you, taking in the sight of your wild hair and lust-loosened body, his eyes inevitably caught watching your breasts as you worked for air. “You look damn fine on my fingers, honeybee.”

You writhed, feeling the mounting pleasure rising up with anxiety. “Jesse...please…”

“‘Nless…” he drawled, smirking down at you, “‘nless you want somethin’ else’a mine?”

And hell, it wasn’t like you’d ever had any shame when it came to Jesse anyway.

“Yer cock,” you tried for a seductive purr but there was a higher whine behind it that was beyond your control. He didn’t seem to mind, if his pupils blowing wide and his grin sharpening were anything to go by. “I want-need,  _ need _ yer cock Jesse. Need you to fuck me like only you can-like you been doin’ in my head since I first learned what my pussy felt like. So many nights with your name in my head, my fingers in my cunt, needin’  _ you. _ ”

The breath rushed out of him, his mouth left hanging open slightly, as your words sank in, even his hand stopping. Without another word he pulled back, releasing you, and sat there. You followed him with rapt attention as he just stared at you. 

That might have just broken him.

You licked your lips and moved your hips, sliding up the bed until your back rested against a pillow and the headboard. With slow, deliberate motions, you slid your hands down your body while you pulled your knees up. One held your knee, spreading your legs wide for him, while the other traveled further down to tug your panties to the side, dipping in before making a V with your fingers and exposing your slick-shined sex.

This time you weren’t as winded, and felt damn proud of yourself as you looked him in the eyes and cooed “saddle up.”

He was on you in an instant, diving headlong onto the bed, his hands scrabbling to shove his jeans down his toned legs while his mouth claimed yours with a vengeance. You could feel his long hard cock slip free and he instantly moved his hips, rubbing it against your slickened fingers and the wet valley of your pussy like an eager puppy. You let go of your knee, using them to hug his sides as he moved to kneel between them. You started to take your other hand back too but it was caught by a much larger one that squeezed gently.

McCree managed to break away from his feast of your mouth long enough to growl. “Keep that, keep both, right there, beautiful. Want you to hold it for me, open yourself up nice and wide so’s I can take you good an’ proper. Wantcha to feel them dreams’a yers.”

You moaned and happily obliged, his words leaving you to gush as both hands slid down and pushed your underwear aside to spread your heated lips open wide for him, giving him everything. He thrust his hips, his cock rubbing between your hands, oiling himself up before he eased back and lined up. You panted softly in anticipation, your eyes sliding down the length of your own curves to watch as he slid his thick cock inside.

He let out a low grunting growl of a moan over you, not that you were any better with your high wail of pleasure. You could feel your eyes sliding closed as he bottomed out inside you, relishing the full and heavy feeling that getting what you’d always wanted gave.

“So long,” you whispered, unable to stay silent, unable to help the light moisture at the corners of your eyes as you exulted. “Waited so long…”

“Fuckin’...perfect…” he answered in the same reverent tones.

Your eyes slowly opened as he started to move, sliding himself out, and you could see the sheen of your own juices coating him before he rocked back inside. You tossed your head back, biting at his neck, before he lifted up and away from you to grip the headboard. You stared up at him, at the muscles tightening in his arms, at the bottomless well of desire and love that were his eyes, and smirked.

“Giddyup.”

The corner of those full lips of his kicked up, and his head dipped a bit. You had just enough time to move your hands back up to your knees, pulling them tighter to your chest, before the first punishing slam of his hips against yours came.

It practically knocked the wind out of you, the force and depth of each rapid fire thrust pushing you further and further away from the real world and closer to nirvana. You could feel him, deep inside of you, pummeling your walls, lighting your nerves on fire, like an invading army McCree was going to take your body for his own or raize it to the ground trying. You weren’t even sure which was preferable.

The headboard creaked in his grip, and knocked hard against the wall behind it. His rough breathes, harsh groans, and sharp grunts blended perfectly with your moans, wails, and whimpering whines. Eventually all you could do was hold on as he took you for a ride, pounding your cunt while your hands reached up to claw at his sides for purchase. He was right there, pressing home against every spot you’d thought known only to yourself-and some newly discovered and claimed by the cowboy above you for his very own. Time, space, everything slipped away until all that existed were the two of you. You could feel your whole body shaking as his rhythm started slipping, his thrusts now erratic but all the more effective as he struck that sweet spot that left you cumming with a keen of his name around him.

Your whole body tensed, your walls squeezing him tight, and he couldn’t hold back any longer. With a shout of your name, your true name, he plunged deep inside and stayed there. Heat erupted as he filled you, giving a few weak aborted twitches of his hips to sow the seed just that little bit further. He released his grip on the bed and his arms tiredly dropped down. For a moment you thought he’d collapse on top of you, but he caught himself at the last minute so he was merely hovering, his lips a breath away from your own, noses nuzzling as the both of you instinctively knew to value oxygen over affection in that moment. 

After a few seconds you took the risk and kissed him, short, sweet, but no less meaningful. He smiled lazily down at you and followed it up with one of his own.

“As good as you’d hoped for?” He asked.

“Mmm…” you affirmed, ever the eloquent one post coitus. “Certainly better than what waited for me back in the barracks.”

“Damn straight,” he grinned.

“Course, you were probably always gonna beat the power of a few Double A batteries, honey.”

 

*~*~*~*

 

You stepped out of the bathroom amidst a swirling cloud of steam, one towel around your waist, using another to dry your hair. A low wolf whistle met your ears and you snorted, letting the towel hang around your shoulders and, conveniently, cover your breasts from a certain cowboy.

“Awww but I was enjoyin’ the show!” He sat on the edge of his freshly made bed in a pair of crumpled jeans with a pout.

“Ya were free ta join me, s’not my fault you missed your chance,” you stuck out your tongue like the adult you totally were.

He stood and sidled up to you. “Now how’s a fella s’posed to know if’n he don’t get an invitation to a soiree like that, huh? T’ain’t fair.”

You wanted to laugh, but you couldn’t help voicing the anxiety that’d been creeping over you the whole time in the shower. “Just...just so we got it all on the table. You...ya get that I love ya...right?”

He blinked, taking a step back, before chuckling and sweeping you up into a moist hug. “Of course, dumplin’. Just like I love you. Have loved you, forever I think.”

You struggled out of his grip and held up your hands between you, watching his smile drop. “Then...then don’t you  _ ever _ run away from me, Deadeye.” You met his eyes, serious. “I don’t know if I can take that again.”

He took a deep breath, nodding. “I don’ take pride in runnin’ like I did...thought I was doin’ the right thing but...hell, since when’ve I ever known what the right thing was?”

You shook your head and stepped close, pressing a hand to his bare chest, over his heart. “You’re a good man, Jesse McCree. Don’ ever doubt that. I just can’t stand losin’ my best friend again.”

Your lips met his, and you both lost yourself in each other, in finally having each other, for a while. When your eyes fluttered open, they landed on the little potted plant you’d all but forgotten about in your fervor. 

You pulled yourself away and went to scoop it up, “how on earth did you smuggle this in, anyways? I didn’t see you an Reyes go flower pickin’ while I was being cuffed and thrown in the hold of the ship.”

Jesse looked away, suddenly interested in finding himself a shirt.

Too bad he blushed all the way down to his shoulders.

“After I finished signin’ everything, Reyes needed someone to go with him to ID a few bodies, and check a few deadlock nests. Reckon he wasn’t too worried ‘bout me takin’ off with you in his back pocket as a leash…I may’ve told him about our ol’ stompin’ grounds in the quarry just so I could beg to take a little bit’a home back. Luckily, jefe’s got a soft spot for ingrates and flowers.”

“We’ll have to get him somethin’ real special next time... _ we _ ...go out west,” you mused as you looked around the room, frowning. “Ain’t no damn sunlight here for it, how the hell’d you keep it so healthy?”

The cowboy got up and flipped a switch next to the nightstand. The wall beside you, all gunmetal grey and industrial, peeled away like shed skin to reveal a floor to ceiling view of the ocean crashing against the sheer cliff face of the watchpoint. The sun sat low in the waters, painting the sky and sea in oranges, pinks, and purples.

You startled a little when you felt his arms come around you as he stepped up behind, resting his chin on your shoulder as he took in the breathtaking sight with all the mundane disinterest of watching clouds move. There were words you thought you should be saying, but nothing came out, your eyes glued as they were to the bobbing froth of the waves below.

“Blackwatch don’ get much in the way of luxuries...but Reyes made sure we had somethin’ to come home to.”

You set the plant down on a table next to the window, and looked back at him. Your Deadeye, your best friend, your lover, all relaxed, smiling, and bathed in the glow of the sunset.

“He certainly did.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to hear your thoughts!


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